New Rider..not yet owner but looking

Hi everyone,

A friend of mine recommended these boards. I'm currently living in the DFW area and have just been recently licensed. I'm planning on taking things slowly and would love to find a 225-250 sized dual sport to learn on. I figure a cheap used bike under $2k would do it since I'm sure to drop the thing at least once. I'm not a speed demon and like my skin so slow and steady wins the race in my book.

The MSF course was ok but found myself wishing that they added an extra day and taught out of the Proficient Motorcycling Book instead. What a useful read!

Gear wise, I am planning on equipping myself with a Tourmaster jacket pants gloves, and generally going the highlighter yellow route. I was a bicycle commuter (still am at times) and understand the invisibility of two wheeled transportation.


I hope everyone is doing great, ride safe.

Brad

Sounds like your doing it the right and smart way and have a plan. Good luck and welcome to the site.

Enjoy and take your time! Plenty of tushie tests at dealerships (even if you're not buying anything there) are lots of fun. I started out with one idea of what I wanted to ride and ended up with something completely different. Who knows what the next six months will bring?

Congratulations and enjoy!!!

Welcome, feel free to join us one Tues night for an earful on cycles. In fact, they are meeting pretty close to Atown tomorrow.

I thought there was a pretty clean Ninja 250 here FS if you aren't set on a DS.

I'm one of those who would recommend something else. Just like your trigger finger is your safety for handling guns, your throttle hand is either your friend or worst enemy.

Good luck with whatever your purchase. I started late in life with a 83 K75.

Your right, Proficient Motorcycling is an excellent book.

Welcome to the site!

Welcome to the board. Looks like you have a good plan. Good luck finding your first bike.

Depending on your size, anything from a XT 225 to a WR250R/DR250/DR400 would be a fine bike. You can explore and decide if you like dirt or asphalt more, get more familiar with the controls, etc., and then you'll have a better idea if you have the right bike or not. Unfortunately, a lot of people spend big money on that first bike, and then find out they don't like dirt, or can't stand cruisers after the first 5 miles, etc.

Thanks for all your responses. Jqueen I'm short but prefer the ability to flat foot a bike, or close to it. Though the drz400 is a great bike it felt like I was on top of a sky scraper when sitting on one. Maybe a good second bike since it has all the power I might ever need.

I totally agree with you on finding out what style fits you best. From just the few hours at the MSF course I found I don't care to have my feet forward of me in a cruiser style. I prefer a more upright position (maybe thats the bicyclist in me). I've looked at standards as well but other than the 250 ninja I have not found much in that realm. I can pick up an older model ninja for cheap, just worried about all the crackable body work. The GS500E is another recommendation from a friend, just tough to find.